James Gunn Thanks Filmmakers, Fans for 'Guardians' Success

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" director credits Marvel and everyone who worked on the movie for bringing his vision to the big screen.

In the wake of the phenomenal success of Guardians of the Galaxy during its opening weekend, director James Gunn took to Facebook to thank fans for their embrace of the movie, saying that it was “for anyone who ever felt cast aside, left out, or different. It’s for all of us who don’t belong.”

“I am of course happy with all the film has accomplished box-office-wise,” Gunn wrote on Sunday, “but what touches me the most is that the film I told the folks at Marvel I wanted to make two years ago is the film that you're seeing in theaters today - it's that so many of you seem to be directly EXPERIENCING the film I INTENDED.”

He shared the credit with his fellow filmmakers, however, writing “If I relied on myself to implement these intentions, the film would be a shambling mess,” and thanking “a wonderful cast, genius producers, an incredibly brave studio, sublimely talented visual effects artists, great editors, and the best damn crew of mostly-British bastards to actually implement these intentions for me. Where I had a good idea they would, through alchemy, transform it into a great one.”

Gunn also took the opportunity to tease the recently-announced 2017 follow-up to the movie. “Of course, I'm not really saying goodbye as, while many of you have been enjoying the film, I've spent this weekend hard at work on the sequel,” he wrote, promising that the characters “have so many hardships and heartaches and triumphs ahead of them, and I can't wait to share them with all of you.”

Guardians of the Galaxy is in theaters now. But you probably knew that already.